


Sick but in a Good Way

by Lady_of_the_Rings



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Breakup, F/F, Fluff, Gay Mike Wheeler, Gay Will Byers, Lesbian Eleven | Jane Hopper, Lesbian Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Mike and El break up, We're all just very gay here., but they're both happy, duh - Freeform, no beta we die like women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22156651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_the_Rings/pseuds/Lady_of_the_Rings
Summary: Mike comes to break up with El. She should be upset, right? But she's not.She thinks she might be in love with someone else.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler (mentioned)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 111





	Sick but in a Good Way

**Author's Note:**

> I have an idea for a long fic, so what do I do? I ignore my other idea and write Elmax.  
> Welp enjoy!!

El knows she's in love with Mike. She's seen every sitcom and romcom and soap opera, and she and Mike do everything the couples on TV do. They kiss, they hold hands, sometimes Mike gets her flowers...

Yes, they have all the aspects of the perfect couples she sees everywhere.

That's why she's so surprised when Mike tells her he wants to break up.

"Why?" she asks. She vaguely wonders why she isn't more upset. All the breakups she's seen have involved lots of crying and anger and yelling. But she pushes the thought out of her mind.

Mike takes a deep breath. "I don't love you."

El's jaw drops. She does _not_ know how to react. Of course Mike loved her! Everything they did together screamed love.

Right?

"I don't understand," she says. She really doesn't. Honestly, she doesn't understand any of this love stuff. It's strange.

Mike sighs. "It's-well, I do love you," he starts. "But not like that."

"Not like... boyfriend/girlfriend?" El asks. She wonders if she did something wrong.

"It's not your fault," says Mike hastily, almost reading her mind. "I love you more like a friend. Like a sister."

El blinks for a moment. She thinks about how she feels about Lucas and Dustin.

Actually, she doesn't see much difference in how she feels about them to how she feels about Mike.

El thought that all the kissing and dates and hand-holding made their relationship romantic. She thought that that was what love was. What love-love is, she thinks.

El's about to say "Okay," but Mike isn't finished.

"And there is one other reason," Mike said.

El perks up.

"I'm in love with someone else," he blurts.

"Okay." El shrugs. She doesn't feel mad or broken up about it. She actually feels kind of good.

"Okay? You're fine with this?" asks Mike, incredulous.

"Can I ask you a question?" asks El.

"Sure."

"Who are you in love with?" Maybe if he told her, she could figure out why they didn't love each other.

Mike suddenly looks very nervous. "I'm not sure if I should tell you that."

"Why not?" El thinks this is a very confusing conversation. She wishes she could ask Hopper for advise right now.

She'd talk to him after.

"I can't explain it, really..." he trails off. "Okay I'll tell you. Just don't hate me?"

"I won't hate you," said El, appalled.

Mike gives her a sad smile. "You say that now," he whispers to himself.

"I'm in love with Will. We're dating now." Mike curls inwardly at his words.

She thinks about it for a bit. Why would she hate him for that? Is she supposed to be jealous of him? She frowns. Why would she be jealous? She loves Mike ( _as_ _a friend,_ she thinks) and Will is nice and sweet. She racks her mind for other reasons she would hate Mike.

She can't think of anything.

"Why would I hate you?" she finally asks.

"You don't hate me?" asks Mike. His voice cracks a little.

"No," says El. "I don't understand why I would."

"Well, for starters cause I just dumped you," says Mike, chuckling a little.

El shakes her head. "I think I like you as...a friend too."

Mike seems a bit relieved. "But there's another reason you would hate me," he says, frowning.

El tilts her head. "What's that?"

Mike seems a bit exasperated, but also a bit relieved. "Because I'm a boy and Will's a boy."

El frowns deeper. "Can you please explain?" she says.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Have you ever seen a boy and a boy dating on TV? Or a girl and a girl dating?"

"No," she says after some thought. "I haven't. But if you and Will love each other like that," she says almost to herself, "why have I never seen a boy and a boy?"

Mike gave a humorless laugh. "When you are a boy and you like-like boys, it's called being gay."

El nods, filing the information in her brain for later use. "You and Will are...Gay?"

Mike nods. "Yeah. And if you're a girl who like-likes girls it can be called being gay or they're also called lesbians."

"Lesbians," says El. For some reason the word sounds nice on her tongue. Nicer than anything else has so far.

Except maybe Eggos.

Mike nods again, glad El is keeping up. "The problem is a lot of people don't like gay people."

"Why not?"

"There's no real reason," says Mike. "Some people just don't like people who are different."

"That's not fair," she says, thinking to the calls of 'freak' she hears in her head.

"It's not." Mike stays silent for a moment. "So are we still friends?"

"Of course," says El, smiling.

"Good!" says Mike, happy and smiling. "Just please don't tell anyone about me and Will, okay?"

"Okay!"

______________________

Later on, El walks over to Hopper. "Mike broke up with me."

He looks a bit happy for a second. He quickly schools it into an expression of sadness. "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?"

She shrugs. "I'm fine. I'm glad."

"Okay," says Hopper, unsure how to respond.

"What does being in love feel like?" she asks.

Hopper lets loose a big sigh. "It's a little different for everyone. But most people feel like they have butterflies in their stomach and they get weak on their feet when they see the person they love."

El wrinkles her nose. "That sounds like how I felt when I ate too many Eggos."

Hopper laughs out loud, eyes twinkling. "Kind of. But in a good way."

"Okay," says El. Instead of clearing things up, the talk just made her more confused. She feels like she needs to think for a bit.

_______________________

El spends the next few days thinking about love. She wonders if she'll ever feel that way around anyone.

_______________________

She doesn't have to wait long for her answer.

When she first starts talking with Max, she's not sure how she feels about the other girl. She's a lot different than Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Mike. A little more rough on the outside, she thinks.

But still, something draws her to Max. Maybe it's the way she laughs. And when she smiles, really smiles, it shines with happiness and makes El feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The first time she sees Max smile like this, it's when she asks, "Who's Wonder Woman?"

Max gapes. "You don't know Wonder Woman?"

El shakes her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Then Max smiles. And El's brain derails for a moment.

"Oh we need to fix that."

Max drags her over into her room and sits her on her bed. El feels a bit dizzy for some reason.

Maybe she ate a few too many Eggos earlier.

Hopper had warned her about those.

Max finds what she was looking for and plops down on the bed next to El. "This is Wonder Woman," she says as she points to the woman on the cover of the book.

"She's pretty," says El.

"She is," agrees Max, smiling a little.

Max spends the rest of the time telling El about Wonder Woman, and El listens in rapt attention as she talks, eyes never leaving her face.

________________________

The more time El spends around Max, the more she likes her. She likes her hair, all long and red and fiery and soft, and her eyes, all sparkly and shiny, and her freckles are cute and sweet like little stars.

She likes the way she feels around Max. Her head spins when she smells the strawberry scent of her hair, and when their hands brush, El feels an electric spark shoot up her arm.

Sometimes when she's around Max she feels a little sick, but in a good way.

Hasn't she heard that before? Oh yeah. When Hopper told her about love.

Oh.

_Oh_

She's in love with Max.

She sits up in bed. Was this good or bad? She groans.

What was that word Mike told her? For girls who likes girls?

"Lesbian," she says to herself. She smiles. She feels good. Like she figured out the answer to some big puzzle.

____________________________

Later, when Max and El are sitting on Max's bed, snuggled under a rainbow-patterned blanket, El decides to tell her.

She opens her mouth to speak. She feels giddy, cuddled up so close to Max. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

El took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you. I think," she says. 

She hears Max suck in a hasty breath next to her.

"I'm sorry," said El, suddenly feeling very afraid. "Do you hate me now? For being a...lesbian?"

Max shakes her head vigorously. "Of course not." She places a gentile hand under El's chin, lifting her face up. 

El finally looks into Max's eyes. They're so beautiful, all warm and soft and glowing.

"I love you too," said Max softly.

El feels her breath hitch in her throat. "Can-can I kiss you?"

Max gasps. "Yes," she breathes.

El leans in slowly. She feels Max's warm breath on her skin, and they're so close, and suddenly there's no more distance between them.

Max's lips are soft and sweet and they taste like cherry chapstick. El thinks she's never felt this good.

The kiss is short, but El feels so light and dizzy like any second she might float away.

As she leans in for another kiss, she thinks, _I guess this is what love is._

**Author's Note:**

> Elmax fluff. My favorite.  
> Now to go work on my other fic.  
> Leave Kudos or comment if you liked this! I love hearing from y'all.  
> (P.S. also noticed i never post anything before midnight what's with that? XD)


End file.
